People have questions

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Earlier today, I wrote wrote that people are buying my current 36-hour Age of Insight offer, and I shared some of their reasons why…

… but not everybody is buying.

Some people have questions.

A few of those people sent me their questions about Age of Insight.

I will now crush these questions, see them driven before me, and hear the lamentation of their women.

First, from a skeptical long-time reader:

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whyd you stop selling it?

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The fact is, I only sold Age of Insight once, as a series of three live training. After that, I never sold it again.

The reason is, Age of Insight is… dense.

I’ve been thinking about the topic of generating insight for a long time, and I put a lot inside of the live trainings.

Afterwards, I planned to make a cleaned-up course out of it. I also planned to write a book about insight. But you know, of mice and men.

I will say that I worked hard to make the Age of Insight training full of infotainment, as well as full of applications of insight techniques I was talking about.

So if you don’t mind going through live recording of three trainings with inevitable live recording hiccups, and if you’re ok digging into this material, I believe it can be very valuable for you.

Next, from a customer who has my Most Valuable Email program:

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Sounds great! John, it may be a silly question, but what’s the difference between MVE and Age of Insight?

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The big difference is that the MVE trick is one specific technique for writing exciting emails, particularly relevant if you write about marketing or copywriting.

One of the reasons the MVE trick works is it generates a feeling of insight.

Age of Insight is about three big, widely applicable strategies for generating insight.

Each of these three strategies is as relevant to emails as it is to sales letters, VSLs, advertorials, books, articles, cereal box copy, and TV Guide summaries.

Each is also applicable if you write in any field, not just if you write about marketing or copywriting.

Last, from a very patient reader who doesn’t like being in anybody’s debt:

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Been waiting for this for bloody ages!

Do you have a PIF link please?

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That reader is asking for a pay-in-full link, because during this 36-hour promo, I am offering a “no-punishment” payment plan. That means I am breaking up the original $300 I charged for Age of Insight into $100 today and two more monthly payments of $100.

But like I said, some people don’t like to be in anybody’s debt. And in response to their overwhelming demands, I’ve added a pay-in-full option to the order page.

You can buy Age of Insight right now and through the end of today, until 11:59pm PST.

If you’d like to get it, or read more about why you might want to get it:

https://bejakovic.com/announcing-age-of-insight-for-36-hours-only/

People are buying

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Yesterday, I announced that, for 36 hours only, I will be once again selling Age of Insight, my training on how to generate the feeling of insight in your audience.

I had no idea if I’d have any takers on Age of Insight, since this is an offer I created four years ago, and haven’t been promoting or talking about to my list since.

But takers there were. I followed up with some of them last night to ask what made them buy Age of Insight. Here are their whys, in their own words.

First, from tech founder, coach, and former nuclear engineer Erik Gross:

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My entire business I’m building is about helping software engineers and architects change the way they think so they can do better work, get noticed on the job, and make more money.

In other words, I am selling insight.

So I figured there was something valuable to learn here – something that could apply both to my marketing and to my work in serving my people.

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(Erik raises a good point. I keep advertising insight as a marketing tool, and it is that. But it’s just as valuable as a teaching tool, to get people to accept concepts and then actually apply them.)

Second, from DTC copywriter Ben Carter, whose copy has made $21 million in tracked sales:

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You sent an email a couple of years ago

(Literally, I just checked; 2024.)

That email has stayed with me.

“When Orcs Were Real.”

Your email, and the piece which inspired it, cemented the value for me in being able to write insightfully:

When Orcs Were Real is a logically-absurd piece of writing, and yet each time I return to it it’s utterly compelling all over again. I find this phenomenon both confounding and fascinating.

Writing this way is also a skill I’d like for myself.

Interestingly, when I looked up your email you mentioned you still think about that piece too (when you wrote it).

Do you still find yourself thinking about when orcs were real from time to time?

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(I talked abut When Orcs Were Real in Age of Insight back in 2022… and I still think about it! Earlier this year I in fact asked ChatGPT to fill me in on the science. ChatGPT was skeptical. I guess the fact that the idea won’t leave my head after years is proof positive this insight stuff works, not only change minds but to make the change stick.)

Finally, from Robin Timmers, the “largest copywriter in the Netherlands”:

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I have 5 why’s, actually:

1. I had a great experience with every single offer I bought from you. They are always unique, insightful, and full of unique insights I can’t get anywhere else.

2. I enjoy consuming your offers.

3. Vasilis’ testimonial.

4. I am a crack junkie for copywriting/persuasion wisdom.

5. I think I actually want to try my luck in the US DR space, so this might give me an edge.

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(No shame in being a crack junkie for persuasion wisdom. At least that’s what I tell myself, because I am a junkie for that stuff as well.)

Age of Insight is available for sale through the end of today, until 11:59pm PST.

If you’d like to buy it, or if you’d like to see the fantastic testimonial I recently got about it, which Robin refers to in his 3rd why above, here’s where to go now, while there’s still time:

https://bejakovic.com/announcing-age-of-insight-for-36-hours-only/

Announcing: Age of Insight for 36 hours only

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Starting today and lasting for 36 hours only, I am selling my Age of Insight training.

Age of Insight shows you how to generate the feeling of insight in your audience, with the ultimate goal of generating a feeling of satisfaction in your belly as you watch $$$$ pile up in your bank account.

I don’t normally sell Age of Insight, but I decided to do so today, because a few days ago, I got a pretty fantastic testimonial about it from Vasilis Apostolou.

Vasilis is a former Agora copywriter, who then went on to work with A-lister Parris Lampropoulos, to mentor copywriters himself, and to write copy as an inhouse copywriter at another big DR brand.

Here’s what Vasilis wrote inside my Skool group a few days ago:

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I’ve bought almost all John’s trainings. The one that has made the most money for me and my clients is one he no longer promotes.

The training I’m talking about is Age of Insight.

Seriously, nothing boosts your copy’s persuasive power like giving your readers a new insight.

You can sell stuff without a big idea or a unique mechanism if you deliver a new insight.

Recently, one of my sales letter passed $1 million in sales. This letter starts by giving readers a new insight. More specifically, insight type number 2 from John’s training. (So consider this post a thank-you to John.)

Also, I’m coaching a bunch of creative strategists who work for 8- and 9-figure brands. When I review their work, I often notice that the creatives that scale are those delivering new insights. Usually the winning creatives use insight type number 1.

There’s also an insight type number 3. Which is harder to pull off but it might be the most effective. In fact, the idea that landed me a job at Agora as a newbie copywriter was an insight of that type. (At the time I didn’t know of John, so I just developed this idea instictually. But now that I’m aware of this type of insight, I can develop these ideas more often)

Anyway…

If you want to make more money from your marketing – or make your content more interesting – beg John to start selling Age of Insight again.

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When I first sold Age of Insight, I sold it for $300. It’s a price I am honoring still, and to make it even easier to take me up on it, I am offering you a zero-punishment payment plan during this 36-hour window, only $100 today and two more monthly payments of $100.

The deadline to get Age of Insight is tomorrow, Friday, 11:59pm PST. If you wanna get in before this rare and priceless opportunity disappears:

https://checkout.bejakovic.com/age-of-insight/

Turns out I’ve had a tough life

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I was cruising along the Daily Mail website today, looking for something to pique my jaded interest.

Sure, there were stories about Harry and Meghan, about David and Victoria, about Brad and Angelina. Yawn.

But then, right as I was losing hope and nearing the end of the page, my eyes lit up. The headline read:

“Are you a Flat Earther? You’ve probably had a tough life! People who have experienced hardship are more likely to believe conspiracy theories, study finds”

As the tagline on my website can attest, for much of my life, I’ve had sympathy for Flat Earthers.

And now that the article pointed it out, I realized that, why yes, I have had a pretty tough life:

My parents divorced before I can remember… the country I was born into broke up amid civil war around the time I was 10 years old… my mom and I fled to America, where we were alone and for years pretty poor… during this vulnerable time, I moved around from state to state and school to school 5-6 times in 2-3 years… I developed epilepsy in my teenage years… I once twisted my ankle bad while playing badminton.

So yeah, pretty tough.

On the other hand, I’ve also had a pretty easy life:

I’m white, male, and with an IQ north of 101… my parents were both well educated and pushed me to get well educated also… aside from that initial onset of epilepsy at age 16, I haven’t spent a single night in a hospital my entire life… even though I’m lazy and careless by nature, and though I’ve made many dumb mistakes in my life, things have magically worked out for me, and I have long been living a life that many people envy.

So yeah, pretty easy. And had that Daily Mail headline read…

“Are you a Flat Earther? You’ve probably had a privileged life! People who are born smart, talented, and beautiful are more likely to believe conspiracy theories, study finds”

… I might have convinced myself that my easy life and privileged background explain my sympathy for Flat Earthers.

There is subtle psychology at work here.

It’s the psychology of generating the feeling of insight.

I’ve long been fascinated with the topic of insight, because insight feels fun when you experience it… and because it’s one of the most powerful, most effective ways to change people’s minds, and to get them to go from A to B, in a way they feel like it was all their own idea.

Maybe you can see how that can be useful for marketing, sales, and business.

I once put together a training about the most insightful things I had figured out about generating the feeling of insight. I used some of that even in the name of the training, which I called Age of Insight.

I recently got a brilliant testimonial for the Age of Insight. And while I don’t normally sell Age of Insight, I decided this brilliant testimonial was an occasion to do so. So I will be selling Age of Insight tomorrow for 36 hours only. (I’ll also share the testimonial then.)

I’m letting you know all this today so you can set your alarm, take time off work if you need to, and make sure to check my email or emails as they arrive tomorrow.

Meanwhile, just so you know I’m not fooling when I say I have sympathy for Flat Earthers, here’s a personal confession:

https://bejakovic.com/why-i-can-no-longer-be-a-flat-earther/

What to do with offers that don’t sell

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Yesterday, I was on a call with a business owner I’m helping to make more money from his list.

He has an offer that used to sell well, but hasn’t been selling lately.

“Seems like there’s just no interest in my list for it these days,” he said.

I know the problem. I’ve had it myself. I also know the fix.

“Raise the price,” I told him. Here’s the logic:

There might still be demand in your list for your non-selling offer, but people need a reason to move. Nothing moves people like, “Before the prices goes up!” Announce the fact and you might make sales, even though haven’t been able to make sales for a long while.

But what if you announce you’re raising the price and still nobody buys? Two options:

Option one is that they buy at the higher price some time in the future.

Don’t scoff. It’s perfectly reasonable.

I was on a call recently with another business owner who runs a big list and a big business around that list. He flat out said, “If an offer is priced at something like $300, I don’t bother with it. I know it’s gonna be for newbies and it’s not for me.”

The fact is, we all evaluate value based on price.

Something with a lower price almost inevitably has lower perceived value. Something with a higher price has higher perceived value.

So an easy way to increase the perceived value of your offer is to raise the price — and to very reasonably attract sales you would not have attracted at the lower price.

“But yeah but yeah but what if it still doesn’t work?”

That’s option 2. And option 2 is you’ve won.

I figure it’s better to have a $30k “one-day intensive” that nobody buys than a $3k “one-day intensive” that nobody buys. Look at Jay Abraham. He built his entire positioning on that core idea.

You don’t have to do like Jay and charge $30k for a day with you.

But if you have a higher-priced offer, whether anybody buys it or not, it becomes anchoring for all your other prices.

It puts you into a premium category, and it makes all your other offers seem reasonable by comparison.

Plus it gives you a higher-value asset that you can now repurpose. A $2k course that you legitimately sell, whether anybody buys it or not, still makes for a legitimate $2k value if you give it away as a bonus or if you bundle it in with other offers. A $30k “one-day intensive” legitimately makes a 20-minute consultation with you worth $1,000.

Earlier this year, I ran a cohort with a small group of people about running a price increase promo.

Since that cohort went well — the people who participated made money, and I was happy with running it — I’ve just decided to run it again.

Basically, my offer is:

You run a price increase promo to your list, and I act as your Mentat. Hopefully you make a nice amount of money in a short amount of time from your price increase promo. One way or the other, you come out ahead in terms of status and positioning and the relationship with your list.

Do you have a list? Do you wanna run a price increase promo? Do you want my help and guidance on which offer to increase the price of… how much to increase it by… and how to run this to your list for the best possible effect?

If so, hit reply. I wanna hear what you’re up to. If I feel I can help you run a successful price increase promo, I’ll give you more details about this price increase promo cohort.

Don’t write like you talk or write

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I am sitting right now, on a leather couch, on top of a blanket. In front of me is a glass door, through which I can see a green hill on the horizon, a highway with cars and trucks going from left to right, a bridge, and some utility poles.

I am telling you what I can see because I want to activate two neural pathways in your brain.

That first paragraph, with the “green hill” and “blanket,” does something different inside your head than the second paragraph, with its “activate” and “neural pathway.”

I read an interesting article today. You can find it linked below if you are the curious kind. The gist:

In 1953, an English teacher created a list of 2300 essential English words that cover everyday word use, both in speech and writing. The words were intended for teaching students of English as a second language, and cover around 90% of spoken speech and about 80% of written speech.

In 2023, the list was updated. It was expanded (2800 words)… some 1953 words (“butter”) were taken out because they are not common any more… other words that weren’t common in 1953 (“budget”) were put in because they are common now.

The article I read today asked, what changed? What’s different between essential English words in 1953 and 2023?

In short, impersonal and abstract words (“judgment,” “concept”) became more common. On the other hand, concrete and immediate words (“towel,” “wrist”), which stand for things that can be seen, heard, smelled, eaten, worn, smelled, touched, or felt in your body, have become less common.

So what? As the article says:

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This shift matters because abstract and concrete words are processed by our brains in different ways. When you read “axe,” your brain doesn’t just decode letters, it reaches for something: an image, a weight, or a gesture. The word activates both a verbal label and a sensory trace. Psychologists call this dual coding: Concrete words travel through two channels, verbal and sensory; abstract words travel through one. Two channels mean two retrieval pathways, which is why concrete words are “stickier,” easier to hold in a line of thought and faster to recall. Abstract words, on the other hand, are purely verbal, and have to be understood through language alone.

To put it another way: Concrete words are easier for us to process because they are bundled with a web of associations, tactile experiences, and memories that anchor their meaning.

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So don’t write how people talk or write, today, in 2026. Instead, write like they talked and wrote back in 1953, or better yet, in 1853, with more images and concrete verbs and nouns that people can feel or see or touch.

Do this and your words will affect readers more dramatically.

Actually, scratch that. “Affect” and “dramatically” are both new fluff from the 2023 list.

What I meant to say was, your words will amuse, annoy, disgust, needle, offend, puzzle, shame, and tempt readers more. (All those are 1953 verbs that didn’t make it into the expanded 2023 list.)

If you’re curious about the article I read, and the towels and wrists we’ve lost, and the concepts and judgments we’ve gained:

https://pudding.cool/2026/07/essential-words/

Fantastic copywriting skills considered harmful

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Point 1:

A couple days ago, I asked people in my Skool group what offer they want to make to their list in the next week.

Many of the folks in my group are copywriters, and many of those who aren’t copywriters by trade still know a lot about copywriting because they do marketing for their own businesses.

When I asked about offers, there was talk of things like:

* 1-1 coaching

* Courses, full or condensed

* A research system

* Longform sales pages

* 5-minute trainings and hour-long workshops

* Order bumps

Point 2:

Today, I went into Travis Sago’s Royalty Ronin community.

I am a paying, card-carrying member of Ronin. I’ve been making a habit of promoting it, and and easy way to promote it is simply to go in there every week and see what’s up.

Today, I saw a post by Travis about auctions, specifically about a recent auction that made $50k in 24 hours. Here’s the relevant bit, relevant to that offers discussion above, and relevant if you sell online:

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Because the Fun Auction…

Does NOT require fantastic copywriting skills.

The CORE is…

Get ______________! Bids start at $1.

The BLANK is something they REALLY, REALLY WANT, which is worth far more than $1.

It’s funny to me…

That TRAINED copywriters fuck this up more than newbies.

NOBODY WANTS a proven system, coaching, 1:1, orthodontist services, drills or an AUCTION BTW!

If what’s in the blank…for $1…doesn’t make their HEART do a flip…find something that will squirt dopamine into the lizard brain.

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Travis is saying you don’t need fantastic copywriting skills to sell VIA AUCTION, and that copywriting skills might even be harmful.

I’d add that this goes way beyond auctions.

I’ve seen people with a lot of copywriting skill, whether professional copywriters or business owners, who have spent tens of thousands of dollars to learn copywriting, do a terrible job of selling online.

Most often, the reason why they are so terrible at selling is what Travis says above. They focus on couldn’t-care-less deliverables rather than outcomes that make people’s heart do a flip. (I’ve made this mistake myself, btw, plenty of times.)

Point 3:

Last December, I ran an auction in my Skool group that pulled in $31k in 24 hours, and that could have legit pulled $70k+ had I just taken the money that was offered me.

The reason that auction popped was, like Travis says above, the BLANK that people REALLY, REALLY WANTED.

When I polled for interest in my blank, I got about 50 people saying they would bid to get it, with 6-7 people saying they would bid whatever it takes to win. A couple of people even said they might take out a zero-interest credit card to be able to bid enough to win (I discouraged this, even if it was said in jest).

Lemme wrap this up.

If you have an audience and a working offer, my ongoing offer is to help you run an auction, and do everything:

* Craft a HEART-FLIPPING auction offer

* Come up with post-auction offers that move those deliverables you got and focus on, the 1-1 coaching, the courses, the 5-minute trainings and hour-long workshops

* Write all copy (I’ll keep my fantastic copywriting skills in check)

* Run and manage the auction itself

* Sell, sell, sell after, to the people have raised their hands by bidding

IMPORTANT: I charge nothing up front. For every $10,000 I send you in sales, shoot over $2500 to me AFTER the money is in your bank account.

If you’re interested, hit reply and we can talk more.

And if you don’t have an audience or a working offer, specifically if you’re a working copywriter…

… you would be served well by seeing how Travis creates and presents his own offers.

It will make you into a more valuable copywriter, and clients will be willing to pay you much more, and will fight to keep you working with them… instead of you having to chase them for a little gig here or maybe there, today and maybe again in five months’ time.

But more important, if you get good at creating offers, then when you try to sell your own stuff, you will have a real shot of getting 50 people to reply YES and even a few people who say they will pay whatever it takes… rather than hearing crickets, seeing tumbleweeds, and feeling the chill of a desolate wind.

I’ve learned more about offers from Travis than anybody else.

If you wanna learn something also, Travis offers a 7-day free trial to Royalty Ronin. 7 days is not long, but it’s enough to pick up one or two good ideas that you can implement for your client (or yourself) today, and it can give you a sense if Ronin is for you. If you’re interested:

https://bejakovic.com/ronin

This email is brought to you by ExxonMobil

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Since 1972, ExxonMobil has been putting a tiger in America’s tank. Now, Exxon wants to put a tiger in your online business…

I don’t know what happened, but suddenly I’ve started getting sponsorship offers via my email software.

Apparently, all these brands I’ve never heard of, have no interest in, and do not want to endorse are offering me ~$1 for every click I can drive to their app/free trial/20% off coupon.

No thanks. All my corporate love and loyalty is already reserved for first-comers like Goldman Sachs, TicketMaster, and Exxon. I’ll promote them even without getting paid.

But it did get me thankn’.

I’ve never directly offered classified ads in my newsletter.

I also don’t want to make a thing out of classified ads in general, because I in general don’t want to allow people to think money can buy me (it can’t, not even if you got a lot).

I have a small audience, but a dedicated one, and also one that includes lots of successful business owners and marketers with lots of money.

If you are interested in advertising in my newsletter, hit reply.

I’m curious about what your offer is.

I’m happy to tell you if it could work well to my list, and if not, if it could be tweaked or twisted in some way that could work. And if it can, maybe we can come up with a classified ad deal that’s a win for you, for my readers, and maybe even me.

Announcing: Handraiser Email Challenge

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Yesterday I sent out a 14-word email to my list. I have gotten a few dozen responses to that email so far.

Some of those responses have already turned into conversations with people who have membership or group coaching offers selling for $1k+.

A number of these people I had never talked to before, even though I have written emails trying to attract their kind and have had offers that are relevant to them.

Point being:

Ultra-short handraiser emails. Try ’em if you haven’t. They lead to conversations.

Sometimes those conversations won’t go anywhere except to teach you a bit about who’s on your list, and what they’re up to, and that they like you, and that you’re doing good by writing emails.

Other times, it turns out that the person you’re talking is somebody you can help to fix a problem or to get an outcome they want. And the fact that you’ve exchanged a few 1-1 emails can make an agreement to work together in some way very easy and natural.

“Yeah thanks Bejako,” I hear you saying. “Thanks for the vague WHAT to do, without giving me any specific or concrete HOW TO. I want HOW TO. I need HOW TO. I’m crying out for HOW TO. And yet you don’t hear my cries, or you cruelly ignore them.”

I hear you and I’m not ignoring you.

Right now, I’m running a Handraiser Email Challenge. It’s free.

If you have an email list, and you know you should do something with it, but it all seems like such a chore… if in the past you’ve had failed promotions or launched offers that nobody wanted… if you have no money and rent is due…

… then the right handraiser email might be all you need to fix things.

You can get my help with it, now, for free. If you want it, here’s where to go:

https://bejakovic.com/house